The Yacht People

Hilarity of Team Meetings

I’m actually a very nice person. 

Well. Sort of. Project management work kind of shoves that aside. 

*Sits in dark room, hunched over computer perpetually creating googledocs and sending harassing emails* 

“Where’s your status update? Where’s your work at? Why can’t you email me things asap when I say ASAP??”

On a lighter note, hilarious quote of the day from one of the Partners:

“When I dated a billionaire’s son, I had to go through kidnapping training. I know how to memorize license plates and kick the back lights from the trunks of cars.”

Sigh. I’ll stick with the slave driving.

Introducing… The Skippers!

YAY! Our new interns have arrived! I’m so excited because:

a) I’m not at the bottom of the food chain anymore :P

b) Its so much more productive with 4 extra pairs of hands!

Over lunch (courtesy of our Yacht Lady) we chatted about our backgrounds and it’s pretty obvious we had different skills to bring to the table. Some of us have worked at big firms and others are just starting out. But I think the most interesting part of this hiring is my feeling of satisfaction that’s slowly subsiding into ease: the skills set of these folk is so wide, I feel we can actually do this!

I mean, thats what they tell you at big companies— the access to resources. But ain’t it cool if you can find and create your own resources?

I can see how Yacht Lady is all about the Alpha Female. We Be Fierce.

I’m not sure how this comment box works but it seems like if you want to leave a comment, you’ll have to first click on the blog posting heading, which will lead you to leave a comment. Happy thoughts!

Drinks and Numbers—Oh My

The Yacht Lady takes me out for lunch on Friday …and I don’t think I’ve ever had cocktails at lunch (we had 4 between us), not to mention cocktails “on the less sugary side”. Luckily, I didn’t crunch numbers after.

Since then I’ve been working on a lot of for the event and the Legacy Foundation including the overview brief and sponsorship proposals. I feel like I’ve used the term legacy as a noun, a verb and an adjective…and on it goes during that 3 page brief. As I’m consolidating the sponsorship tiers, the computerized image and wish list, this holistic vision of opulance and glamour comes together. (Yes, I am that good at powerpoint :P)

And of course, the budget.

Let me tell you that being the only number cruncher on the team is like asking an ADD child what kind of ice cream they want. With such an upscale event, The Partners (who probably think faster than the Road Runner’s sprint) have the vision for frothy Couture. For some reason, one of The Partners thought that hanging a giant piano 60 feet above the ground would be cost effective. (Unfortunately, the idea was uttered with complete seriousness).

So here I am, clutching my excel spreadsheet and sanity, trying to reign in a creative. Goodness gracious, I hope I survive.

Yet I can still identify with the creative tour de force of the Partners. At the end of the day the results are the collaboration of our own networks, time and efforts to make a self sustaining entity. In the entrepreneurial spirit, thats pretty fabulous.

Through the Looking Glass

No, my name isn’t Alice. May as well be considering the surreal quality of this whole experience.

High net worth individuals? 3 million in LIQUID assets? That’s a whole lot of wealth I can’t even imagine.

Its a whole new perspective of life that comes with a boat, a mansion and just a neat little getaway in the Bahamas. Luxury isn’t the day at the spa— its the freedom to do what you like, whenever you like.

This market just shifts much of what I think of conventional marketing tactics. Exclusivity and perfection are the norm. In the words of MadMen— its not about making their needs feel met but making them feel they have no needs at all. Just make them love you through underpromising and overdelivering.

But when you think about the amount of wealth, excellence and power 150 people will have in a room, that’s just a marketer’s dream. People who love the good life love to spend on the finer things.

“Yes sir, that plane is for sale. I’ll pass it on to the owner that you’re interested”